West Seattle, Washington
27 Tuesday
High-school volleyball playoffs are under way, and Chief Sealth International High School has a victory to celebrate, beating Holy Names, 3-1, at home tonight. The game started late because of “Viadoom”: Holy Names had to play Bainbridge Island first to determine who would face Sealth, but Bainbridge got delayed by the Viaduct-closure afternoon traffic – we spotted their bus waiting to turn onto the Hanford detour route in SODO, while that stalled truck (chronicled in our afternoon-commute coverage) was backing everything up. Next game for Sealth is on Saturday.
ADDED: Video of the final 22 minutes of the set, all the way till the two teams shook hands at the very end. Meantime, a little more information on what’s next – Sealth will play Eastside Catholic at 11 am Saturday at West Seattle High School where at the same time, different court, WSHS, which beat Sealth in the division-championship tiebreaker, will play Seattle Prep. The winners of those two games will face off at 7 Saturday night.
Fall sports at local high schools have moved into post-season play, and there was a game tonight at Southwest Athletic Complex in West Seattle – Chief Sealth International High School‘s girls-varsity soccer team faced Bishop Blanchet. The Seahawks came out on the short end, 4-0. (Next on deck: Volleyball playoffs, with Sealth hosting a game against a TBA opponent this Thursday night, and West Seattle High School doing the same on Saturday.)
The second annual Schmitz Park Elementary Holiday Craft Fair is now rescheduled for Saturday, December 3rd, a little further into the shopping season, and fair organizers are recruiting local artists/craftspeople right now. It’ll run 10 am-3 pm that day, with a $35 table fee to benefit the Schmitz Park PTA General Fund, but no other commission. Interested? Know someone who might be? Contact Shana Allen at shanaall99@gmail.com.
Last night, we published the score. But the annual Huling Bowl football faceoff between West Seattle’s two biggest high schools is more than a game. It’s pageantry. Above, from atop a ladder, Chief Sealth International High School‘s Marcus Pimpleton directs the combined bands. As seen/heard in video (watch for the baton-tossing!):
For West Seattle High School‘s victorious football team – 53-6 – it was also Senior Night:
Stars of the game included two WSHS seniors, Nikko Pablo Emm with most of the scoring, including a 61-yard touchdown run, and receiver George Edwards picking off three Sealth passes, returning one for – that same number! – 61 yards. Sealth QB Maxwell Sharver ran the ball in for the Seahawks’ lone touchdown.
When the Wildcats came off the field at game’s end, they got a rockstar reception, as this video shows, including the traditional trophy-hoisting:
Principals Ruth Medsker of WSHS and Chris Kinsey of Sealth took a moment to pose with the trophy.
The Westside players eventually did too:
All of this followed spirited pre-game activities – we caught up with the WSHS cheer squad, weatherproofing and all:
They, and the team, are off to postseason play.
BIg sports night for principals Ruth Medsker of West Seattle High School and Chris Kinsey of Chief Sealth International High School – they’re watching their varsity football teams in the Huling Bowl at West Seattle Stadium, while their volleyball teams are facing off in the division-championship tiebreaker at Holy Names on Capitol Hill. For updates on both games, check our @wsblive Twitter feed (see it on the web, here). More later!
10:22 PM UPDATE: As commenters have already pointed out, West Seattle took the volleyball match over Sealth, in five sets. West Seattle also won the football game, 53-6. Photos and video to come in a separate story!
Just in from Seattle Public Schools: Madison Middle School and Alki Elementary are two of five district schools just announced as winners of the “School of Distinction” award, signifying “outstanding academic improvement and math,” according to the official district announcement. It’s the fourth consecutive award for Madison, whose principal Henterson Carlisle mentioned the three previous awards in his introduction to the School Board candidates’ forum on Tuesday night and said they were hoping to make it four in a row – now they have. There’ll be a ceremony in the schools’ honor, but the date’s not set yet. In all, 99 schools around the state won the award.
In addition to the Huling Bowl football game at 7 pm Friday – with pre- and during-game festivities detailed in last night’s story – there’s one more West Seattle High School–Chief Sealth International High School game of note that night: Volleyball! After Sealth’s win at Nathan Hale in five sets last night, the stage is set for them to face WSHS in a division-championship tiebreaker game – both went 11-1 in division play – at 5:45 pm Friday at Holy Names High School (728 21st Ave. East; admission free).
Who will win the Huling Bowl this year? We find out Friday night. But, as the official announcement reveals, there are more reasons to come cheer the annual West Seattle High School vs. Chief Sealth International High School football game than just the game itself:
Join both schools, past alumni and the entire West Seattle community in this annual contest between area rivals. Festivities include a free pre-game barbecue provided by long-time supporters and named sponsors, Steve and Tom Huling.
School Principals Ruth Medsker of West Seattle and Chris Kinsey of Chief Sealth have upped the ante and backed their school, by placing a friendly wager on the game. They’ve agreed that the winning team’s leader will get to be “principal for a day” at the other school.
The student leadership of each school is getting into the act as well, asking the fans representing each school to participate in a canned food drive during the week and at the entrance into West Seattle Stadium. All of the donated goods will go directly to the West Seattle Food Bank, with the winning school’s community being recognized during the game.
The game is also in the running for Kiro7’s High School “Game of the Week” with voting taking place online at kirotv.com/hsfootball/index.html.
Half-time entertainment includes an exciting joint performance from the two bands as well a light-hearted competition between the two schools’ staff. The game also marks West Seattle’s “Senior Night,” and recognition will be paid to the senior football players from that program in what will be their last home game of their careers.
Pre-game:
• 5:30: Pre-game BBQ starts (provided by Steve and Tom Huling)
• 6:00: Stadium gates open
• 6:55: Sealth Band performs National Anthem
• 7:00: KickoffHalf-time (20 minutes):
• 10 minutes: Sealth and West Seattle band in joint field show
• 5 minutes: Sealth vs. West Seattle staff “punt, pass & kick” competition
As promised, here’s the video from last night’s Seattle School Board candidates forum in West Seattle – all four incumbents, all four challengers, brought together at Madison Middle School by local PTSA/PTA groups. While board members represent specific districts, in the general election, all voters in the district get to vote in all the races, so you will find all four of these matches on your ballot – which should arrive soon, since King County Elections was expecting to put them in the mail today. The candidates are listed here (with links to information about them).
Our video includes the entire hour-plus section of the forum in which the eight candidates answered questions, both written Q’s from the audience and follow-ups by moderator Phyllis Fletcher from KUOW, some in “lightning round” style, some more at length. The video is in three parts – between parts 1 and 2, there was some stopping down to arrange everybody; then the camera itself shut down for a second between parts 2 and 3. If you want to watch any one of the clips fullscreen, click the YouTube logo on that clip, and it’ll take you to the page where you can do that. (The forum began with about half an hour focused on the Families/Education Levy; we have video of that too and will publish it within the next few days.)
From tonight’s PTA/PTSAs-sponsored School Board candidates’ forum at Madison Middle School: Beyond how the candidates and challengers handled questions – coverage of that, with video, to come – a new proposal for addressing West Seattle’s school-overcrowding challenges emerged.
When what the district terms “capacity management” came up, board president (and WS rep) Steve Sundquist revealed his new idea: Reopen the former Boren Junior High School in Delridge next fall for two elementary schools – one drawing from the north (where Lafayette and Schmitz Park are both overflowing) and one from the south. Reopening Boren is widely expected to be an all-but-done deal for next fall, but the rest of Sundquist’s idea is new: Work would begin on figuring out how to redevelop or renovate the closed Genesee Hill Elementary site as a new, permanent north-end school, and do the same for the leased E.C. Hughes Elementary site for the south end, with the goal of opening both in fall 2015, at which time Boren would go back to being an emergency backup site (its current designation).
We followed up with Sundquist after the forum, and he stressed that this is not a formal proposal yet – he has asked district staff to look into what it would take. He also noted that this idea would allow independent Westside School (WSB sponsor), which leased and renovated Hughes, to stay there through its five-year lease period. (We talked with Westside two weeks ago when the possibility of the campus being taken back by SPS first came up, and will follow up with them tomorrow.) The district is currently drafting a proposal to address “capacity management” for next year, following a whirlwind round of public meetings including this one in West Seattle, and a board vote is expected in mid-November.
Video from the forum – which spanned a wide range of topics, including some ongoing controversies – to be added here later! (Wednesday note: Overnight breaking news has delayed this; when we finish uploading the forum video, it will be in a separate story, but we’ll link it here.)
(WSHS photo: L-R, Corvina Pritchett, Ms. Paula Tortorice, Benson Hoang, Ms. Marguerite Jones)
From West Seattle High School assistant principal Michael Kelly, news of a new way to show off school spirit:
West Seattle High School has a new addition to its scenery. It is a six-foot-wide planter in the gym lobby area that now holds a twenty-five-foot tree and school colors (blue and gold) plants. Principal Ruth Medsker has provided a new opportunity for some of our special-education students to help them learn about planting and taking care of a variety of plants. The planter itself weighs 3800 lbs. Shop teacher Peter McCue had to design a special lift to get it off of the pallet jack that brought the planter into the school. With the help of about 20 students the planter was rotated into place. Next time you visit West Seattle High School, be sure to visit the planter and see the work of our special WSHS gardners!
A potentially fun side note to this Friday night’s Huling Bowl crosstown matchup between the West Seattle High School and Chief Sealth International High School varsity football teams: As mentioned in last weekend’s football coverage, it’s a Channel 7 “Game of the Week” contender. You have till Thursday to vote in the online poll, which the local game is leading – for now – don’t get complacent!
That’s no overhead-projector screen with Hope Lutheran School teachers Julie Harley and Kevin Jones and a few of their first-grade students – that’s a “smartboard.” Hope Lutheran has three of them now and is hoping to raise enough money to put them in every classroom. That’s a key “fund-a-need” – along with scholarships – planned for Hope’s upcoming “Light the Night for Our Kids” auction/gala, collaboration with Seattle Lutheran High School. The evening starts at 4:30 pm November 11th with hors d’oeuvres and a silent auction at Hope, followed by dinner and a live auction at SLHS (emceed by Alex Meyer, an alum of both schools). And besides selling tickets, both schools also are currently looking to add to the lineup of donated items for the auction. A link to the donation form – plus more info about the big event – can be found here. To buy tickets, contact either school – Hope at 206-935-8500; SLHS at 206-937-7722.
Today’s two high-school football games brought victories for both local teams: Tonight at West Seattle Stadium, WSHS beat Ingraham 30-13 in its homecoming game. And this afternoon, Seattle Lutheran won at Orcas Island, 28-27. We’ll add WSHS homecoming highlights in a bit. (P.S. Nichole sent words, next week’s WSHS-Sealth faceoff is up for Channel 7 Game of the Week – vote here.)
ADDED: Summary from the WSHS game, ahead:Read More
One high-school football game involving a local team tonight: Final score from the Northeast Athletic Complex, Nathan Hale 37, Chief Sealth 20.
ADDED: Summary and video:Read More
Like its counterpart a few miles north, Chief Sealth International High School opened its Open House last night with music – in their case, the Jazz Band played in the auditorium. The program that preceded classroom visits included a special event – acknowledgment of the new public-art installation outside the auditorium, visible from SW Thistle:
The six illuminated steel “Sentinels” are the work of Seattle artist Juan Alonso, who spoke briefly and emotionally, explaining the inspiration behind them:
A Washington State Arts Commission rep explained the work as part of the “1/2 of 1%” program. Sealth’s new principal Chris Kinsey also spoke briefly, saying the year – his first there – is off to an “amazing” start. (No classes today – it’s a professional-development day throughout the district.)
No school today for Seattle Public Schools students – but last night was big for at least two schools here on the peninsula, high-school Open House night. We stopped by both; at West Seattle High School in the early going, we found principal Ruth Medsker out in the courtyard with the band, ready to serenade arriving parents. Then we got the student musicians on video:
Tomorrow (Saturday) is WSHS Homecoming, with a barbecue in the courtyard starting at 2:45 pm, followed by a caravan to the stadium at 4:15, and the game at 5, with the Homecoming Dance (at the school) afterward.
Organizers of next week’s School Board candidates’ forum in West Seattle – presented and sponsored by local PTAs and PTSAs – just locked in a topnotch moderator, KUOW education reporter Phyllis Fletcher. So says organizer Carla Rogers, who shares more information about the 6:30 pm Tuesday forum at Madison Middle School (day before ballots go out):Read More
(With the Chengdu students are educators, L-R, Liu Jing, Lisa Clayton, Jen Dowell)
West Seattle schools have been at the forefront of the increasing amount of Chinese-language learning offered to students – with the Confucius Institute based on the Denny-Sealth campus – but did you know that English-language learning is key for students in China, too? That’s a big reason why this group of 4th- and 5th-graders from Chengdu Longjiang Road Primary School in central China (map), is spending three weeks at Pathfinder K-8 on Pigeon Point. Their visit was arranged by Pathfinder assistant principal Lisa Clayton (who also happens to be the mom of two China-born daughters).
Since there’s no classes tomorrow, the students are wrapping up their first week today; we stopped by to meet them early Tuesday. In a quick chat before the school day revved up, the students told us they are enjoying all aspects of their visit – not just getting to practice their English, but also making new friends, playing with their host families’ pets, enjoying seasonal all-American traditions like a visit to a pumpkin patch.
The students are here in the U.S. with their school’s assistant principal Liu Jing; a frequent Pathfinder substitute teacher, Jen Dowell, has been hired to help out during their stay. None of this comes out of the school’s budget or any other public funds – Clayton worked it out with the Northwest International Student Exchange, based in Portland, which handles it all. This is part of a monthlong U.S. visit for the students, which started back East and continues after their West Seattle stay, with a trip to Disneyland!
(Photos courtesy Juan Alonso)
It’s a big night for thousands of local families, those of students and/or staff at the two biggest high schools on the peninsula: It’s Open House night for both West Seattle High School and Chief Sealth International High School – where the new public art shown above, Juan Alonso‘s “Sentinels” (read about it in our August story) will be dedicated as part of the event.
At Seattle Public Schools campuses, “open house” usually means the time for families to come meet their kids’ teachers and find out how things are going so far in the new school year (as opposed to independent schools, which often have “open houses” for prospective families to come learn more about the school). Both schools are hoping for big turnouts:
WEST SEATTLE HIGH SCHOOL: Families are invited to gather in the gym for a brief program at 6:30 pm, and then they’ll be dispersed to classrooms, to find out about curriculum and meet teachers. The event is scheduled to continue till 8:30 pm. (Note that it’s Homecoming Week at WSHS and you’ll see signs of school spirit – also note that there’s a barbecue at the school on Saturday afternoon, before the big game – details on the WSB Events calendar.)
CHIEF SEALTH INTERNATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL: The night begins with a 9th-grade parent social at 5 pm in the Galleria; the all-school general program begins at 6 pm, after a welcome starting at 5:30 pm, with the night’s schedule and progress reports handed out in the Commons. The main program begins at 6 pm in the auditorium, with presentations plus the official dedication of “Sentinels.” Rotation through classrooms will start at 6:30 and last for six ten-minute periods, with five-minute transitions inbetween.
EDITOR’S NOTE: We often publish requests for volunteer help – and over the years, some have asked, what about a regular feature listing such needs? Fauntleroy resident Judy Pickens (right), who volunteers her time and talent to a variety of endeavors including local schools, offered to gather and report information on volunteer needs at the schools where the need is greatest. Here’s her second contribution, with more to come!
By Judy Pickens
Special to West Seattle Blog
Volunteers at any area school with a multi-cultural student body bring more than an extra pair of hands. They bring a perspective on contemporary American culture that can help smooth a difficult transition for recent immigrants.
I experience this value most often when helping a student read. Being in a regular classroom doesn’t mean recent English speakers have a firm grasp on this new language. Many words and concepts are still unfamiliar. What is a “mural”? What is “landscaping”? What does being “perplexed” feel like?
Whether working one-on-one or monitoring a group activity, school volunteers are available to immigrant students in ways that busy staff cannot be – listening, reacting, affirming, reassuring. Give it a try. You’ll be rewarded by knowing you’ve helped new Americans feel more at home.
To inquire about any of the following opportunities to enrich our public schools, contact the volunteer coordinator noted under the name of each school. Expect to complete a standard security-clearance process – and to know that you have made a difference in the lives of students.
Just in from West Seattle Stadium: LaConner 23, Seattle Lutheran High School 20, in a hard-fought game, homecoming for the Saints.
ADDED: Game details:Read More
Grad Night is months away but it takes a lot of fundraising to keep the special event affordable, so West Seattle High School seniors and parents are washing cars right now, for donations, at West Seattle Produce‘s lot (Fauntleroy/Alaska).
They’re there till 3. (P.S. If you missed our report on the fall’s first general WSHS PTSA meeting, including other Grad Night fundraising efforts – read it here.)
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